As Georgia enters its third straight year of drought,
conditions continue to worsen.
There is no sign of relief as summer nears. With very little
rain
and temperatures in the
80s and 90s, soils statewide are drying fast.
Since January 1, rainfall has been well below normal across
the state. As of May 15,
Athens had received 57 percent, Atlanta 58 percent, Augusta 66
percent, Columbus 64
percent, Macon 60 percent, Rome 58 percent, Savannah 75 percent
and Tifton 56 percent of
normal rainfall.
Computer soil-moisture models from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s Climate
Prediction Center show soil moisture at or near record-low
levels.
Soil moisture in the western half of the state is extremely
low. It is near the first
percentile in many places. This means that in 99 of 100 years,
soil moisture would be
higher than it is now.
Georgia Rivers Register Record-Low
Flows
|
|
| Explanation |
percentile |
percentile |
for day |
| O
Not ranked |
Streams south of an Athens-to-Atlanta line are at or near
daily flows. Record low
flows for May 15 are being reported on the Chattahoochee River
at
Atlanta and near
Whitesburg.
Other daily record-low flows are being reported on the Flint
River near Culloden and at
Montezuma, Albany and Newton; on the Ocmulgee near Jackson and
at
Macon; and on Little
River near Washington. The Oconee and Altamaha Rivers are near
record-low flows.
Agriculture Feeling
Impact
Agriculture is feeling the impact of the prolonged drought.
In
some Georgia areas,
farmers have stopped planting because of poor seed germination.
Crops that have been
planted are showing moisture stress.
Many farmers have started irrigating crops. They are thus
drawing down farm ponds and
groundwater early in the growing season. Pastures are fast
deteriorating.
With the dry soils and warm weather, the wildfire threat is
extremely high across the
state. Alan Dozier of the Georgia
Forestry Commission reports that since Jan. 1, the state has
had 10 percent more
wildfires, with twice the normal acres burned.
Little Hope for
Relief
There is little hope for statewide relief during the next
several months.
Georgia is now in the time of the year when soil-moisture
loss
from evaporation and
plant use (transpiration) normally exceeds rainfall. So even if
normal rainfall patterns
return during the summer, soil moisture will remain extremely
low.
The most likely result is that soil moisture levels will
continue to decline during the
summer.
The most likely form of relief during the summer is a
system. However, there
is a big price to pay for that relief.
Tropical weather systems can and do bring flooding and wind
damage statewide.
Ironically, while we are in a drought, Georgians need to be
preparing for possible
flooding and wind damage, too, as we enter hurricane season in a
couple of weeks.
